Randolph Scott stars as Jackson Redan, a former confederate officer who moves to Prescott, Arizona to start a fresh new life. But even as he makes new friends he is blighted by an old adversary and forced to take up his guns once again.
Sugarfoot the film is not to be confused with the TV Western series of the same name that ran from 1957-1961, tho a big connection does come with Arthur Hunnicutt who stars in both. Also featuring Adele Jergens, Raymond Massey, S.Z. Sakall, & Hank Worden, it seems to be a little known Oater in the considerable career of genre legend Scott. It’s directed by Edwin L. Marin who collaborated with Scott on 7 other movies, cinematography is by Wilfred M. Cline {Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park, California} and the score is provided by Max Steiner.
Adapted by Russell S. Hughes from a novel by Clarence Budington Kelland, Sugarfoot runs at just 80 minutes and is the kind of no nonsense Western that was rife in the 1950s. It plays out a simple story with the minimum of fuss, throws in some solid punch and gun play, and lets Randy Scott carry the movie on his elegantly chiselled shoulders. There’s some disappointment with Massey’s villain turn not having enough to do and certainly the romance with the perky Jergens is a touch too formulaic. But with Scott perfect as the gentleman having to get a bit dark of mind, and Hunnicutt on splendid side-kick form, the negatives are but mere specks on an otherwise decent Western morning
